Connect Instagram
Let customers message your bot in Instagram DMs. Sign in with a professional Instagram account — no Facebook Page needed.
Use this guide when you want the bot to answer your Instagram direct messages. It connects the Instagram account directly, through Instagram's own login, so it works for accounts that have never been linked to a Facebook Page. The one requirement is a professional account, which is free to switch to.
Before you start
- A professional Instagram account — Business or Creator, either works. A personal account cannot be connected. To switch: in the Instagram app, open Settings → Account type and tools → Switch to professional account. It is free and takes a minute.
- The login for that account — you sign in with Instagram itself during the connection, in a new window.
- The Growth plan or higher — Instagram and Messenger are Growth channels. If you are on a lower plan the tile shows which plan unlocks it.
No Facebook Page required
Some tools can only reach Instagram through a linked Facebook Page. Meerlume uses Instagram's own login instead, so an Instagram-only business connects the same way as anyone else.
Connect it
Instagram opens in a new window, you sign in and allow access, and the window closes itself.
Open your bot, go to Bot settings and choose the Instagram tile, then Continue with Instagram.
Sign in with Instagram
A new window opens on Instagram's login page. Sign in with the professional account your customers message. If your browser blocks the pop-up, allow it for meerlume.com and press Continue again.
Allow access
Instagram shows what Meerlume is asking for: to see the account's basic details and to read and send its messages. Allow it. Nothing else is requested — Meerlume never posts, comments or reads your followers.
Done
The window closes on its own and the dialog shows your username with Instagram connected. DMs sent to the account reach your flow from now on. If the bot was a draft, it is published as part of this step.
If messages do not arrive
Instagram lets an account decide whether connected tools may read its messages. If the bot stays silent after connecting, check in the Instagram app under Settings → Messages and story replies → Message controls that access to messages for connected tools is allowed, then send another message.
Keeping it connected
Instagram's permission for an account lasts 60 days. Meerlume renews it automatically well before it runs out, so in normal use you never think about it. If a renewal cannot go through — usually because the password changed or the account revoked the access — the Instagram tile warns you with the date, and reconnecting from the same dialog restores it.
Your username is part of the share link
The Instagram link in Share your bot is an ig.me link built from your username. If you rename the account, reconnect once so the link, and anything you have printed it on, keeps working.
What your customers see
A customer opens a DM with your account — from your profile, from a story reply, or from the ig.me link — and the bot answers in that thread. Choices appear as quick-reply buttons; a tap sends the answer and moves the flow on.
- Quick replies show up to 13 options, each with a short label. A question with more options, or with long ones, lists them in the message instead and the customer types the one they want.
- Instagram does not hand over a phone number. The contact is filled in from what the flow asks, so ask for a number in the flow if you need one on file.
- The conversation appears in your inbox like any other channel, and you can take it over at any point.
Try it
Send your account a DM from another Instagram account — a colleague's, or a personal one — and the reply comes from your flow. A DM sent from the connected account to itself is not delivered, so use a second account.
Disconnecting
Open the Instagram tile and press Disconnect. Meerlume stops receiving the account's messages immediately. You can also remove Meerlume from the Instagram app under Settings → Website permissions → Apps and websites, which has the same effect. Reconnecting later starts from the same dialog.
Related guides
Continue with the next part of the setup once this step is stable.
Connect Facebook Messenger
Let customers message your bot from your Facebook Page. Sign in with Facebook, pick the Page, and Meerlume does the rest.
Connect WhatsApp
Connect your WhatsApp number in about a minute — Meerlume handles the Meta app, the webhook and the permissions — or bring your own Meta app if you already have one.
Preview drafts and publish
Test the conversation before it goes live, understand the draft/live split, and publish only when the workflow is ready.
Triage submissions in the inbox
Read what customers sent, change status, reply or take over the chat, approve or reschedule bookings, and archive — keep follow-up moving without getting buried.